Knock-down upholstered furniture

ABSTRACT

A knock-down, three-piece, upholstered article of seating furniture including a pair of unitary side arm, back rest and leg pieces, and a separable seat piece. Each of the three upholstered pieces is provided with a plurality of pre-installed, concealed T-shaped nuts adapted to matingly engage bolts. Brackets are mounted for retaining the three pieces in assembled condition with the side arm pieces abutting along a common edge thereof and the seat piece positioned between the side arm pieces transverse thereof such that the upholstered furniture article may be purchased in knocked-down condition and easily assembled by the purchaser by securing the three pieces together using the brackets and bolts provided.

United States Patent [191 y [111 3,799,611 Steinfeld Mar. 26, 1974 1 KNOCK-DOWN UPHOLSTERED 0224,2155 7/1972 Gerli D6/7l FURNITURE [75] Inventor: Manfred Steinfeld, Skokie, Ill.

[73] Assignee: Shelby Williams Industries, Inc.,

Chicago, Ill.

[22] Filed: Feb. 10, 1972 [21] Appl. No; 225,162

[52] US. Cl. 297/440 [51] Int. Cl A47c 7/00, A47c 1/12 [58] Field of Search 297/440-441 [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,564,700 I 2/1971 Binek 297/440 3,674,311 7/1972 Miller 297/440 3,663,059 5/1972 Omlie 297/440 3,575,465 4/1971 Dolby 297/440 2,923,345 2/1960 Strauss 297/440 Primary Examiner-Paul R. Gilliam Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Si1verman & Cass ABSTRACT chased in knocked-down condition and easily assembled by the purchaser by securing the three pieces together using the brackets and bolts provided.

1 Claim, 6 Drawing Figures PATENTEUmzs I974 SHEET 1 BF 2 mymmlr 1 KNOCK-DOWN UPHOLSTERED FURNITURE BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION I tainers. This can engender significant material savings in cartage and shipping costs which are so expensive at this time. Additionally, knock-down construction permits manufacture of the furniture at reduced costs because final assembly of the component pieces of the article is not performed by the manufacturer. Further,

the nature of knock-down furniture is such that replacement or repair of component parts thereof is permitted without the necessity for removing upholstery fabric or extensively reworking the entire article of furniture. Typical examples of knock-down furniture are disclosed in US. Pat. Nos. 2,620,024 and 2,660,228. While the aforementioned patents disclose knockdown furniture articles which accomplish certain advantages, the articles described in the prior art do not lend themselves to the needs and requirements of contemporary furniture designs. For example, the fumiture articles disclosed in the prior art employ unnecessarily numerous component parts; generally one component part is provided for each of the standard elements of a seating article of furniture such as the seat, the arm portions, the back portion, and each of the legs. Additionally, prior knock-down furniture articles required the use and installation of numerous fastening members and a variety of work tools for erecting the furniture so that the desirable ease and convenience of assembly by the purchaser is reduced significantly.

Accordingly, it is a primary object of the present invention to provide a knock-down articlefo upholstered furniture which includes only three basic pieces upon which certain of the securing nut hardware has been pre-assembled and concealed such that complete assembly of the furniture article may be accomplished with minimum skill and effort on the part of the purchaser to produce an aesthetically appealing furniture article of contemporary design. The knock-down fumiture article of the invention requires use of only one tool, a screwdriver, to complete assembly thereof.

Another object is to provide knock-down upholstered furniture consisting of three pieces which can be varied in size and dimension and configuration so as to permit a great variety of different upholstered seatary furniture articles to be realized within the concept of the invention.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will appear from the ensuing disclosure to those skilled in the art.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of upholstered seating furniture constructed in accordance with the invention and illustrated in assembled condition.

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the three pieces assembled to form the seating article of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of the fumiture illustrated in FIG. 1, with the upholstery and padding portions thereof removed, and with the brackets and securing hardware shown.

FIG. 4 is an enlarge fragmentary sectional view of the seat and one of the side arm members of the said seating article, illustrating a bracket and securing hardware in assembled condition.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view of the back rest members of said seating article, illustrating the arcuate bracket and securing hardware in assembled condition.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of an article of furniture constructed in accordance with the invention but modifled to provide a sofa.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One article of seating furniture constructed in accordance with the invention is shown .in FIG. 1 in the form of a chair l0. Chair 10 includes three, basic component pieces, these beinga unitary side arm, back rest and leg piece 12, a second piece 14 which is the mirror image of piece 12, and a seat piece 16. As appears most clearly from FIGS. 1 and 2, each side piece l2, 14 has a generally arcuate configuration so that when the two side pieces 12, 14 are juxtaposed with mating edges 18, 20 thereof in abutting relationship, the assembly has a generally semi-circular configuration.

The third or seat piece 16 has a generally L-shaped cross-sectional configuration with a seating surface 22 and a smaller, overhang portion 24 formed normal to the surface 22. The portion 22 of seat piece 16 has a peripheral configuration corresponding substantially to the semi-circular configuration of the inside surfaces of the side members 12, 14. Thus, in the assembled condition shown in FIG. 1, the three pieces 12, 14 and 16 cooperate to form a chair of contemporary configuration. Casters 26 may be provided for easy movement of the chair 10.

Each of the pieces 12, 14 and 16 is constructed and upholstered over appropriate padding members by the intended manufacturer for sale inthe knocked down condition shown in FIG. 2. The un-upholstered pieces are shown in FIG. 3 wherein pieces 12', 14' and 16' correspond substantially to the respective pieces 12, 14 and 16 of FIG. 1. Pieces 12', 14' and 16' are constructed of preformed frames of wood or other suitable material, following which upholstery padding and fabric is applied over the frames. Prior to applying the furniture padding and upholstery fabric, each of the frames is predrilled to provide holes 28; each hole 28 is fitted with a T nut 30 illustrated most clearly in FIG. 4. Each T-nut 30 includes a cylindrical sleeve or boss 32 and a flat, circular portion 34 secured to the base of portion 32. The inside surface of boss 32 is threaded for engaging bolt 36.

In prefabrication of the pieces 12, 14 and 16,.T-bolts 30 are first inserted within holes 28. The upholstery padding 38 next is applied over the wood pieces'12',

14' and 16 to completely cover the positioned T-bolts 30. Next, upholstery fabric 40 is applied over the padding 38. The fabric 40 and padding 38 is punctured on the inner facing surfaces of each of the pieces l2, l4 and 16 to provide passageways 42 therethrough to expose the threaded inner surface of the portions 32 of T-bolts 30.

Upon completion of the above manufacturing operations, the knock-down chair is ready for sale to the ultimate consumer for final assembly by him. The pieces 12, 14 and 16 are sold in knock-down condition with an appropriate number of bolts 36 and the securing brackets described below.

To assemble the chair 10, three brackets 44, 46 and 48 are provided. Brackets 44 and 46 are of right angle configuration and are provided with apertures 50 for alignment with holes 42 formed in the upholstery fabric stretched over members 12, 14. Each bracket 46 also has at least one hole 52 formed in the leg which is normal to the one having holes 50, the hole 52 being provided for alignment with the passageway provided in the seat member 16.

The third bracket 48 is also provided with passageways 54 in each of the legs thereof to correspond in location with the passageways provided in the rear portion of the seat member 22 and each of the side members 12, 14. Bracket 48 has a modified arcuate configuration to correspond to the surface curve of side members 12, 14 for close fit therewith.

Thus, it will be apparent that when the purchaser of the knock-down furniture item 10 receives the pieces in disassembled condition, it is a simple matter for him to erect the chair by positioning the side arm members l2, 14 with the edges 18, thereof abutting and with the seat member 16 in position thereon, and to secure the bracket 48 first to the side arm members and next to the seat portion. Brackets 44 and 46 are positioned in like fashion and. secured to each of the pieces with the bolts 36 provided. The only work tool required to complete assembly of chair 10 is a screwdriver used to secure bolts 36. Further, the chairmay be disassembled at will by the purchaser for replacement or repair of any of the three pieces 12, 14, 16 in a convenient manner.

It is to be understood that seating furniture constructed in accordance with the invention can be modified to procure an article of furniture other than the chair 10. For example, there is illustrated in FIG. 6 a sofa or settee 60 which is constructed of three pieces 62, 64 and 66 in the same manner as corresponding pieces 12, 14 and 16 of FIG. 1. The furniture article 60, however, has an elongated seat portion 66, and the rear portions of the side arm members 62, 64 also are elongated. In all other respects, construction and assembly of the sofa 60 is the same as that for the chair 10. However, a greater seating capacity is realized with the elongated seat part 66.

The design and configuration of the seat and unitary arm and backrest parts can be varied, as desired, to achieve different furniture motifs. It is deemed unnecessary to illustrate and describe this aspect of the invention.

I claim:

1. A knock-down, three-piece article of upholstered seating furniture comprising, a pair of one-piece combination side arm, back rest and leg pieces, and a separable seat piece, each of said pieces being formed of a single one-piece rigid support member with padding and upholstery material secured thereover, each of said combination pieces including respective inner facing arcuate surfaces, each including one edge configured to be secured to a complementary edge in the adjacent piece in abutting relationship along one common edge thereof, said seat piece including a seating surface and an overhang portion normal to the seating surface, a plurality of fasteners carried by each of said pieces and generally covered by said padding material, and a plurality of bracket members wherein each bracket member includes a portion fastened to at least one of said combination pieces and said seat piece, whereby said three pieces when assembled are retained together by said fasteners interconnecting said bracket members with the common edges of the combination pieces abutting each other and the seat piece. 

1. A knock-down, three-piece article of upholstered seating furniture comprising, a pair of one-piece combination side arm, back rest and leg pieces, and a separable seat piece, each of said pieces being formed of a single one-piece rigid support member with padding and upholstery material secured thereover, each of said combination pieces including respective inner facing arcuate surfaces, each including one edge configured to be secured to a complementary edge in the adjacent piece in abutting relationship along one common edge thereof, said seat piece including a seating surface and an overhang portion normal to the seating surface, a plurality of fasteners carried by each of said pieces and generally covered by said padding material, and a plurality of bracket members wherein each bracket member includes a portion fastened to at least one of said combination pieces and said seat piece, whereby said three pieces when assembled are retained together by said fasteners interconnecting said bracket members with the common edges of the combination pieces abutting each other and the seat piece. 